Historical And Collectible Glassware

 

Are you looking for something unusual to decorate your home or use on the dining table? Perhaps you are looking for that special Viking gifts for a friend or loved one? In this case, consider a period glass item or collection. Glass has been used for millennia, originally as a personal decoration in the form of pearls. Later, the Egyptians discovered a way to make jars and containers by dipping a mould in molten glass. The real breakthrough came with the discovery of hand-blown glass in the time of Christ, a process that forms the basis of most handmade glasses. til today.

In the case of free-flowing glassware, the glassmaker uses a hollow tube to blow air into the molten, viscous glass that has been collected from the furnace. With skill and experience, a glassmaker can shape glass in many different ways as it cools to create a wide range of premium decorative and practical items.

Shortly after the development of free-flowing glass production, an improved blow moulding process was developed. Instead of the glassmaker working the molten glass by hand, he blows it out of the tube into a mould. The first moulds used in this way were made of clay and were broken to remove glassware. Soon, however, metal moulds were developed that could not only be more finely decorated but also had the added benefit of being made in more than one piece. Now the same shape could be used many times, initiating mass production.

The early development of glassblowing techniques and mass production means that many examples of historical glassware have been preserved and these form the basis for the many reproductions that are available to us today. Examples are available from many eras and cultures, from Roman, Medieval and Colonial to Islamic and Chinese.

Perhaps you know a couple who are about to get married and want to buy them an unusual and appropriate gift? Engagement glasses have been fashionable gifts for these couples in Europe for centuries. Perhaps you know someone who would appreciate a reproduction of the Viking claw cup or glass horn for drinking or someone who would be more suited to an elegant reproduction of a medieval Islamic mug for drinking their tea? Whether you are lucky enough to live in a real colonial house or not, a range of beautiful glasses and decanters from America's early years would add an unusual finishing touch to your table at times like Thanksgiving and Christmas.